Adviser's Manual 360

A pair of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Policy Memoranda describe a hold that USCIS has placed a hold on adjudication of pending benefit requests submitted by applicants whose citizenship or country of birth are from the countries identified in two travel-ban proclamations: Presidential Proclamation 10949 of June 4, 2025 and Presidential Proclamation 10988 of December 16, 2025. The broad wording of the memos affects both immigrant and nonimmigrant benefits applications. There is no exception for immigration benefits commonly used in higher education, such as a nonimmigrant F-1 student's Form I-765 filed for Optional Practical Training, a Form I-539 filed to change nonimmigrant status, a Form I-129 filed by an H-1B petitioner requesting extension of an H-1B employee's stay, etc. IMMpact Litigation is planning to file a lawsuit to challenge "the June and December 2025 Travel bans as well as DHS (USCIS) and DOS implementation of the ban on entry, visa issuance and immigration applications announced in the policy alert on November 27, 2025 and the policy memo on December 2, 2025."

In a January 14, 2026 news posting, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced that it will pause the issuance of immigrant visas at U.S. consulates worldwide starting January 21, 2026 for nationals of 75 countries that DOS deems are "at high risk of public benefits usage." During the pause, DOS will "a full review of all policies, regulations, and guidance to ensure that immigrants from these high-risk countries do not utilize welfare in the United States or become a public charge." The pause impacts only immigrant visa issuance at U.S. consulates abroad, and does not affect nonimmigrant visas such as B tourist visas, F student visas, J exchange visitor visas, H-1B work visas, etc.

A final rule scheduled for publication on January 12, 2026 will raise USCIS premium processing fees effective March 1, 2026. The preamble to the final rule summarizes the changes: "premium processing fees that were $1,685, increase to $1,780; the premium processing fees that were $1,965, increase to $2,075; and the premium processing fees that were $2,805, increase to $2,965."

The current paper edition of Form I-765 is dated 08/21/25. The USCIS I-765 page's Edition Date note states: "08/21/25. Starting March 5, 2026, we will accept only the 08/21/25 edition. Until then, you can also use the 01/20/25 edition. You can find the edition date at the bottom of the page on the form and instructions. Dates are listed in mm/dd/yy format. If you complete and print this form to mail it, make sure that the form edition date and page numbers are visible at the bottom of all pages and that all pages are from the same form edition. If any of the form’s pages are missing or are from a different form edition, we may reject your form." Note that the current (08/21/25) edition of the form has eliminated the optional Social Security Number request that appeared on prior editions of the form.

On December 29, 2025 the Department of Homeland Security-US Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS/USCIS) published its final rule titled Weighted Selection Process for Registrants and Petitioners Seeking to File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions. The final rule will be effective on February 27, 2026, 60 days after its Federal Register publication date.

On December 22, 2025 NAFSA submitted a comment letter urging USCIS to exclude from its expanded biometrics collection proposal "F-1 or M-1 school designated school officials, J-1 responsible officers and alternate responsible officers, staff who complete Form I-9, or staff involved in the preparation, filing, or signing of employment-based petitions such as Forms I-129 and I-140."

The Department of State (DOS) added Bhutan, Botswana, Central African Republic, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Namibia, and Turkmenistan to the list of countries subject to the Visa Bond Pilot Program effective January 1, 2026.

A presidential proclamation issued on December 16, 2025 modifies and expands the U.S. travel ban, updating the lists of countries subject to full and partial entry restrictions, effective January 1, 2026.

On December 12, 2025 USCIS announced that it has updated is policy on photographs used in connection with immigration benefit requests, by no longer accepting self-submitted photos and limiting the circumstances in which even USCIS-taken photos may be reused in benefit requests.

On December 12, 2025 a group of 20 states filed suit in Massachusetts challenging implementation of Trump's $100K H-1B fee proclamation.